Listen to ‘The Avatar Returns’ Episode 28

The Avatar Returns episode 28 is available for listening or download right here and on iTunes here.

This week The Avatar Returns returns to the Avatar. We continue our discussion of Dark Horse Comics’ ongoing Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel series with Volume 2 – The Search. We talk about how the shift from the larger, more epic story told in Volume 1 – The Promise to this much smaller, more intimate tale works for us, and more importantly for the characters. Whereas the previous book explored issues we didn’t even know we wanted to explore, such as colonialism and cultural appropriation, this book focuses on the bonds of family, born and found, particularly the relationship between brothers and sisters. It also addresses ideas of identity, be they physical, societal, or emotional. We praise writer Gene Luen Yang’s astounding gift for continuing and building on this world and these characters we’ve come to love so much. And we wax embarrassingly rhapsodic about the work of art duo Gurihiru, which just keeps getting better with every volume, every chapter, every page.

There’s also banter this week. We say just a few words (for now) about the first season of DreamWorks’ Voltron: Legendary Defender, and we say way too many words about “adult” coloring books. Seriously, no one cares as much about these things as at least one of our hosts apparently does.

Next: we take a week off in a desperate attempt to prepare ourselves for the following week’s watch of director M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 “masterpiece,” The Last Airbender. (We promise, The Legend of Korra Book Two is coming. Assuming we survive this.)